Random musings on history, politics, and more

The weather here in Minnesota is probably best described as “brutal” right now – but that’s only because “tropical” is becoming cliche. (As I write this it’s 85F/29C… with 80% humidity.) So forgive me if the little free time I’ve had of late has been spent in front of a fan, rather than a computer.

While it wasn’t announced until mid-August last year, my first novel (Mendacities… remember?) was actually published a year ago this week; I’ve been blogging about the e-book experience at Smashwords and Amazon’s Kindle platform over at the book’s website. Interesting reading, perhaps, if you’re contemplating publishing your own book at some point. Don’t be a miserable failure like me – learn from my mistakes. 🙂

(Why, you might ask, was it not announced until August when it was published in mid-July? I was waiting for it to become available at amazon.co.uk and elsewhere outside the United States, as it seemed pointless to heavily promote something online that was only readily available to Americans.)

Elsewhere, I’ve been watching the current British drama unfold with morbid fascination. I don’t really have anything to contribute to the discussions, except to note surprise at The News of the World being the first part of Murdoch’s empire to fall – didn’t see that coming! – and to point out that the whole thing is increasingly sounding like a Bourne-esque summer adventure novel/movie. Particularly the part about Sean Hoare, whistleblowing NOTW reporter whose sudden death was promptly declared “not suspicious” by, y’know, the very police department implicated in the whole ongoing scandal.